Day 20

Galatians 5:14

When Jesus was asked, “What is the greatest commandment?,” He said, “To love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind.” He went on to say that the second command was to “love your neighbor as yourself.” The command to “love your neighbor as yourself” is mentioned in the Bible in at least six different books. Who are our neighbors? They are those that live close to us, our co-workers, fellow students and fellow church members. Therefore, who is a neighbor we do not know? Let’s challenge ourselves to ask God to show us one or two neighbors this year with whom we should be intentional in building a relationship. How can we be “Jesus with skin on?” No doubt there are many around us that are hurting and need someone to show them God’s love. How do we get to know someone? We must be intentional in order to get to know them. They may be a different color or nationality from us. Having us to reach out to them and build a relationship with them could lead us to an opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them. Romans 13:8 says “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law.” Why is love for others called a debt? We are permanently in debt to Christ for the lavish love He has poured out on us. The only way we can ever begin to repay this debt is by fulfilling our obligation to love others in turn. Because Christ’s love will always be infinitely greater than ours we will always have the obligation to love our neighbors. Interesting fact: People who focus on others rather than themselves rarely suffer from low self-esteem.